When Sadness Comes to Call; Eva Eland

When Sadness Comes to Call is a perfectly pitched book for young readers that sensitively explores the feelings of grief and sadness.

In the story, Sadness is personified by a large green character who comes to visit a young child at home. At first the child tries to hide sadness away, the cupboard seems the perfect place for it. But sadness is not that easy to get rid of and slowly the child welcomes Sadness into daily life. As the child embraces Sadness, the two bond together as they draw, listen to music and go for a walk. Eventually the child is able to accept Sadness and after being accepted Sadness is able to leave.

In the story, Sadness is a character and the reader is invited to give sadness a name. Sadness is represented as a green character and some of the images are particularly powerful and striking - at the start Sadness is looming over the child who sits on the sofa and by the end the child curls up in bed with Sadness appearing to find comfort in it.

The message in the book is that sadness comes and goes and it is ok to feel sad. It is much better to deal with feeling sad than to ignore it and pretend it is not there. It is important to find out what Sadness wants, talk together and accept it into our lives. Sadness will not be around forever, it just visits every now again.  Remember, today is a new day.

One that is sure to promote sensitive and meaningful discussions and will provide the comfort sought by many a young child when they are feeling sad. A sensitive and gentle picture book that explores the emotion of sadness and how to manage it and might just help a little someone feel a little bit better.

Recommended for 4+.